Author: Denis Tahiri
One click on the "TikTok" platform is enough to understand that the Chinese social network has turned into a hotbed where, due to the large amount of content that is uploaded, it is almost impossible to control. The addiction that the application causes, criminal groups have used to increase their criminal activity. If you ask for "England", dozens of profiles are immediately displayed where safe passage to Great Britain is offered both by truck and by barge.
“Super safe route on the head of the truck, reasonable price ”, “Road to England by truck, with the knowledge of the driver, 16 K on the head of the truck every Sunday from Belgium” , “Want to meet the Queen? Write to us in Dm”, these are just some of the messages that you can find with the greatest ease on social networks. There are even cases when the contact number is given so that communication is more direct. Such an explosion of offers on social networks comes at a time when the crossing of the strait between France and England via dinghies is increasing. This path is classified as a cheaper alternative, where the price ranges from 3 thousand pounds to 9 thousand pounds.
Franko, a 19-year-old from the Lezha area, is one of the Albanians who have crossed the La Mans strait by raft. He confesses to "SIGNALIZO".
"I fled Albania on August 20, 2021, towards Greece, I stayed there for three months and then I fled to France. He stayed there for 3 days, the people who clean the road called me back. says the 19-year-old, who adds that he spent one night in the traffickers' camp because there was a policeman patrolling the area all the time. Franko, who graduated from the vocational school for cooking, says that the plan was to start from Cali, but due to the large presence of the French police, it was decided to start at 5 pm from Dunkirk.
"We stayed up until 8 o'clock in the morning walking in the forest, loaded with raft materials and we walked all night." says he, who answered our question about where he came into contact with this way of crossing the border illegally, with only a few words. "TikTok, there are dozens of people who offer it".
This alert is supported by the confessions of other people who, however, remain reserved, although they indicate that the points of contact located on social networks were set up to ask about the price of the trip.
In the raft where Franco was, there were 53 other people, including 24 Albanians. But none of the traffickers, who after putting the raft in the water, had offered free passage to two people from the group on condition that they steer the boat. " After 4-5 hours at sea, the person driving the raft told us that we had entered the English border. We hadn't even gotten close. We continued on the raft for 12-13 hours until our engine broke down. Our phones didn't pick up any signals, we didn't know what to do. Luckily, the family of an Albanian boy who was on the raft had called the police from America, telling them that their nephew had left for England and we hadn't heard from him for 12 hours."
For the 19-year-old who thought at the time that it was all over for him and the 53 people on board the boat, relief would come as the British coastguard plane passed overhead, sounding the alarm for lifeboats. Asked if he would make that transition again, Franko says that never again in his life.
Two policemen in front, Albania has no information
"Sinjalizo" officially addressed a request to the Albanian State Police for information regarding the anti-cybercrime sector, asking: "Has this sector launched any investigation regarding the trafficking of clandestines from social networks to England or other destinations? How many people have been arrested, if any? Has any task force been established on the issue of the emergence of Albanian groups trafficking clandestines to England or other destinations?" In its response, the State Police states that regarding these questions: " We inform you that these are complex investigations and are not primarily pursued by this sector, so we cannot give a definitive answer to them . "
Despite the silence of the Albanian side, what has been made public at least by the British is the alarm of the use of social networks to advertise the clandestine business. This is related to one of the operations during the end of the year in England, as these offers for the transition to Great Britain go up to 20 thousand pounds. But according to what he told you on the unofficial channel "Sinjalizo", the information about the criminal groups that navigate on social networks not only TikTok but also Instagram and Facebook have not yet been forwarded to them by their partners.
The cyber unit has no staff
Before such an alert would have to bring about interdepartmental cooperation, the cyber unit at the headquarters of the State Police counts the lowest number of staff. According to the international security agency, cybercrime is a criminal act where the computer and social networks are the main target and are used as tools to commit a criminal offense or are the location of the crime.
Currently, Albania is a country where the spread of network use is 80% of the population. According to data from Atlas , the use of online Services is increasing. At least 15-19% of the population over the age of 15 makes online purchases, 11-13% of the population pays bills online, 12-15% have access to bank accounts via the internet and 43-48% of the population has made and received digital payments. But these are not the only areas that can be affected by cybercrimes which can start in state institutions that can be affected and end up with the publication of citizens' private data without approval.
But even though the need for a strong structure against cybercrime is something evident after the scandals with the security of personal data, and at a time when one of the government's priorities is the digitalization of Services, the cyber investigation sector at the national level consists of only 6 specialists, while four other positions continue to be vacant.
" The rest of the structure, consisting of 5 specialists (currently 4 employees, while 1 vacancy), which deals only with administrative matters, is located in the General Directorate of the State Police," the State Police officially says, adding that there are also 2 computer crime specialists at the Tirana Local Police Directorate.
The private sector has sophisticated security parameters
The specialist of cyber security systems in a financial institution in the country, Bedi G, with many years of experience in cyber security, says that for many professionals in the field of cyber security, working in police organizations is a dream, but they are denied for a number of reasons. become part of it.
" Of course, working in organizations that have international connections and options is a dream for every cybersecurity specialist. What concerns me is which country this organization is part of and looking at the level of corruption, hiring and firing in the Albanian state administration, this dream fades and I regretfully say no," he says.
Meanwhile, Gentian Progni, a cybersecurity expert, says that "Unit C" does not have the right investment even though they have the capacity. " If there are 5 vacancies, the question is whether an IT or webmaster, or white hacker is interested in letting a freelancer who receives 2 thousand dollars a month for 600 thousand leksh in the state, I don't believe it. This is the investment I'm talking about, because if there were a better salary than what freelancers who work 24 hours a day to deserve that salary have, normally there would be no vacancies," he says.
Among other things, Progni adds that investment in technology is needed. " If the investment in Unit C were technically correct, it would be enough to create a special line of communication with all social networks, which social networks have a legal obligation to do. This line of communication would mean that through certain keywords, many of these pages, videos, livestreams would be blocked by the social networks themselves," he concludes.
The cyber security expert also raises the alarm that immediate investment should be made, since if this investment is delayed after 5 years, Albania will be far behind in this war.
" There should be stronger laws, bigger budgets for cybercrime because it is the crime of the present and the future. If we don't take it seriously now that these things are happening, imagine how late we will be in 5-6 years, when most Services tend to be online," he concludes.
On the other hand, a source in the State Police, who asked to remain anonymous, told "Sinjalizo" that immediate intervention is necessary to increase funding. " The unit has the capacity, but it needs to be invested. A larger budget is needed to pay specialists in the field. A white hacker today, in economic terms, earns more by working outside the structures than in a structure. Salaries must be increased and their number in the police structures must also increase," he says, adding that there are people with the capacity to become part of the structure against cybercrime in Albania, but it is the economic aspect and working conditions that make them go towards the private sector.
Some statistics…
To understand that cybercrimes have become an ever-increasing concern, it is enough to see the statistics of the General Prosecutor's Office for cases registered by the district prosecutor's offices. The "champion" for cyber crimes is the Prosecutor's Office of Tirana, which has recorded 67% of the total number of denunciations, followed by the capital of the north, Shkodra, with 6%, while for 2020 the prosecutor's offices of Permet, Saranda and Puka have not registered any criminal case related to cybercrime. 60% of cybercrimes are committed by defendants who live in cities, where all are adults, while the largest share of 76,92% is held by men and 23,8% by women.
